Legislation protecting vulnerable and minimum-wage workers need to be passed before an election is called, says Poverty Free Thunder Bay.

Poverty Free Thunder Bay joined together on Monday with the Anglican and Evangelical Lutheran Women’s Group and the Christian Outreach and Social Action Committee of the Cambrian Presbytery of the United Church of Canada urged the public to contact their MPPs in support of six bills before Queen’s Park.

Among those proposed legislation is Bill 165, which would increase the minimum wage to $11 per hour and tie future increases to an economic index.

Poverty Free Thunder Bay chair Terri Carter is concerned the bills might be lost amid the shuffle of a spring provincial election, if the current minority Liberal government is toppled.

The other bills include protecting workers against practices such as unpaid overtime and improper division of gratuities and tips as well as improving conditions for migrant workers and making it easier for workers to form unions.

With more people having to resort to low-paying jobs to make ends meet, more protection is needed.

“Precarious work has more the norm since the recession. More and more people are working these minimum wage jobs since the recession. Graduates aren’t finding work,” Carter said.

If an election is called, the coalition is asking people consider voting for candidates who support those bills.

We have to try and stop looking for the solutions to poverty in raising the minimum wage. I employ semi-skilled labour. When you raise the minimum wage I have to increase the wages of my employees as I have to recognize their skill level above unskilled labour. I pass the costs on to my customers of whom many make minimum wage...that is called inflation and no one wins.

The real solution here is upward mobility in the workforce. Ontario needs to grow skilled and semi-skilled jobs so that the people on minimum wage have a place to go.

If the government truly wants to help low income earners, try cutting their taxes instead of raising minimum wage. When minimum wage goes up, so do the costs of goods. But another side affect of raising minimum wage is...wait for it...the people earning that wage pay more taxes! So not only does the sitting government at the time get brownie points from the public for doing the 'right' thing by raising minimum wage, but they also take in more revenue from the increase in taxes that the workers make. Hmmmm...

....Poverty Free Thunder Bay is a coalition of concerned individuals, groups and organizations which advocates for change at the local, provincial and national level to eliminate poverty and its impact on our community....from their website

But can we get the whole story out because I got this from their website also. Poverty free belongs to the Lakehead social planning council. The President of that council is Mary Kozyros who just happens to be the NDP candidate for MPP.

Another group similar to this is the Thunder Bay Health Coalition. Their spokesperson is Jules Tupker, a long serving NDP member of the party. Seems the NDP like to make groups and pretend they are not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes.

At what point do these people get challenged on this stuff. Shocking the gall of these folks. And they suggest that the conservatives are bad with attack ads. These folks could teach the tories and Liberals a lesson.

To NowayJose, does this mean we can take away your health care and you pay your own instead of off my hard earned wages and taxes. There is a price to pay for shopping in the US, I believe we should have the right to move where we want. We need to open the border and then those who wish to support the US economy can do so 100 per cent by moving there. You know what they say about the grass being greener, sometimes the manure is deeper also. I know first hand as my sister is a true blue gun toting American and she just loves all us Canadians giving her country money. She laughs all the way to the bank.

Dear Watchful,I thank you for the response.Yes, it does entitle the Canadian Government to take away my health care benefits while working out of the country. As posted previously, I worked in the US for 4 years. Canada cut me off after 2 years and rightfully so. I then had to pay $186 bi weekly, from my cheque, to cover health insurance (if required).This may or may not be relevant to our conversation, but I am (as sure there are others) are really getting tired of treating a hardworking, tax paying Canadians like second class citizens. I do not have a tax exempt card therefore if I can purchase a fridge, stove, washer and dryer with the approx. savings of 40%, I will do so.

I am an old grumpy old guy, who was a fan of Mike Harris. That being said the facts through studies and recent history has proven that raising the minimum wages creates jobs and improves everybody's lives. Providing housing for the homeless reduces total costs to the system (including health care, policing and general tax bases) and improves the quality of life for both the poor and the general population. I am not one for increasing taxes especially when I see civil servants being overpaid( Sunshine list) and over compensated in general, they need to be clawed back and money allocated in these directions.

Its one thing for sunshine list guys like firemen to earn what they earn, but they are pretty aggressive to me when I suggest they should not moonlight. They take jobs away from small time contractors and pay for the work they do is often under the table.

To me its like pouring salt in a wound...and we all have to live on this earth.

If they truly knew what it is to suffer, they might be a little more enlightened about moonlighting.

Union members should be mindful of the way they treat people while they are on top, because they won't always be.

I am a strong supporter of unions. Just not of some of their leadership.

I am also a strong union supporter. The problem with unions is usually bad company negotiators ( most often civil servants and some businesses plus some bad laws as with some provisions of successor rights laws and those that force arbitrators to enforce stupid policies like equal pay for work of equal value). However as the sunshine list shows there are way too many people in too many government and crown corporations making way too much in wages and benefits compared to the private sector ( and I am not talking about hydro linemen, nurses and the like who earn their money mostly through working excessively long and tiring hours). As far as Harris and his cronies( Flaherty), he had to make tough fiscal decisions because Martin as finance minister cut back on federal transfers to make himself look good. He may have been rough around the edges but he was put in tough position and just look at what McGuinty has done to this province. There are too many overhead jobs in government now.

I've found, working in both a low paying job and a high paying job, that the more you make, the lazier you are. While they're complaining about the lousy service on their cruises and carribean vacations, an adult making minimum wage has to work 2 jobs with little breaks just to feed their family. The high earners put their feet up the desk and do nothing but whine. They are also very unproductive and drag their companies down. And that's both private and public workers. Union and non union. An education makes you more educated. It doesn't always make you smarter or more compassionate. Just read the earlier comments in this post. Shame on these ignorant people.

If our economy is based on people buying things, how can it possibly make sense to put so many people into a situation where they can't afford to buy things?

Arch Stanton, Scott Duncan and "NowayJose" are all arguing that an entire class of people—a large class in Thunder Bay's case—should be economically under-compensated so that they can enjoy cheap goods.

I hope you guys remember your position on minimum wage the next time a Mac's is robbed. The two are very closely related!

Minimum wage in Grand Maris $7.25/hr. which is very relative to our differences in economy and the standards pertaining to both. Under the free trade agreement, I have and will continue to make major purchases south of the border.Canada is choking itself by the needs of so many without recognizing the few who work, pay taxes and contribute to our society.Follow my lead, the United States will have another economic fail shortly. Canada will start to pay out more than it brings in.When all is said and done, I’ll invest in the Yuan or the Yen.

Minnesota State government just past a law that raises the minimum wage by over $3 over the next 2-3 years and is going to index it to the cost of living in the future. I am always interested in the little asterisk exceptions that they put into these laws but the bottom line is that if people work they need to make enough wages to have a better lifestyle than if they are living off of handouts either government or private donations. In most cases minimum wage jobs dont provide that especially in jurisdictions that are governed by the Free enterprisers like most US Republican governments and some Conservative governments like in Alberta.

I LOVE your plan. Do people not realize this is why there are fewer and fewer jobs in Canada. We want to pay less for everything yet expect to get top wages. No wonder companies are heading to Mexico, China, etc. wake up people!

Do you really want to stop this it had to begin at the top! It needs to be rebuilt! Every one no matter what postion 50 rand a year when turning 18. Free school and health coverage while getting the 5. No need for business owners or excutives becuase productivity is based on nothin gmore than the OWNER trying to get rich. All prices would be frozen permanetly. There would be no need for securty or many job because all people would be equal you would have sports starts making million for playing a child's games....it has to start at the top though and people need to relearn..words like RESPECT, CARING, COMPASSION, TRUE EQUALITY...not this so called Canadian charade than you wonder why everythging is so bloody messed and out of control